Ukulele sail on South Passage

The weather gods satisfied our every prayer on Saturday 15 November when 31 intrepid explorers set sail on South Passage.  Our plan was to sail from Manly around Green Island and over to St Helena Island.  We’d then disembark for a picnic lunch and ukulele jam, before motoring back to Manly.

All went well as we left Manly and raised the four sails - all by manual effort. Ukulele players were conscripted to haul the halliards and sheets until the sailing master was satisfied they were tight enough.  Sailing conditions were perfect for the ukulele landlubbers, with sunny skies and light winds.  The ship heeled gently as we left the mainland so we knew we were sailing.  No sign of sea sickness on this voyage.

There were 19 ukulele players and family on board, and we enjoyed the sail to the long jetty at St Helena.  The island was a penal colony from 1867-1932 and the prisoners ran a model farm as well as other businesses like brick making and sugar refining. We had permission to moor on the jetty and visit the picnic area (you need a guide to visit the prison ruins).

Mooring at the jetty in rising winds and strong currents proved trickier than had been expected.  The crew got a gangplank assembled and we strolled the 400m to the covered gazebo for lunch. With our time on the island running short, we got the jam underway and played for about 40 minutes. 

We started with a recently released song about St Helena by a Brisbane band Amaidi (you can download it here) before getting back to jam favourites like To Her Door and Another Saturday Night and sea shanties like Bound for South Australia and Blow me Bully Boys Blow.

With the wind picking up and the storm clouds gathering on the mainland, we motored back to Manly.  There was some impromptu playing and singalong on the way, and we disembarked at 4.00pm as planned and at 4.05, big drops of rain started falling.  The gods had honoured their promise. 

It was an excellent day.  The South Passage crew were friendly and supportive and enjoyed showing us ‘their’ ship.  Many people tried their hand on the wheel under the watchful eye of the skipper.

This trip was a first for South Passage and BUMS – and in hindsight there were things we would do differently if we ran the event again.  Disembarking on St Helena took up jam playing time, and we think it would have been better to anchor up in a sheltered bay and play on board. Next time we would arrange the jam songs beforehand and circulate them on tablet and paper.

Thanks to the crew of South Passage, particularly Libby Morrison for organising a great day out.  I’m sure we all slept well that night. Thanks also to Kaye Dort for the photos.